Novak Djokovic, who only a year ago was all but unbeatable, had one more match to play after losing to Andy Murray in New York: that tough one with the media, where explaining defeat needed to be nuanced with praising the person who had just beaten him up for nearly five hours.

And he played a blinder. "Any loss is a bad loss," he said, "there is no question about it. I'm disappointed to lose but, in the back of my mind, I knew that I gave it all. I really, really tried to fight my way back – but I had a great opponent today.

"He deserved to win this grand slam more than anybody because over the years he's been a top player. He's been so close; lost four finals. Now he has won it, so I would like to congratulate him. Definitely happy that he won it."

If that is hard to believe, it is easier to accept when you consider Djokovic has won five grand slam titles, not that he isn't hungry for more, but he identified with Murray because his journey had been harder and they had started it together, born just a week apart, and rivals since they were 11 years old.

No two players on the circuit are so linked. Djokovic said before the final that he could not be friends with Murray because, like two fighters, they needed to keep some distance before a contest. Yet they watched the Scotland-Serbia World Cup qualifier together, albeit in almost total silence – and perhaps both were happy with a scoreless draw, a result that was impossible when they met in the final of the US Open.

On court, the fight was real, and it left Djokovic, one of the fittest players in tennis, utterly spent. "It was a struggle for both of us to deal with the [gusting winds]. At times we made a lot of unforced errors; at times we played some great points."

I wanted to know if Murray's tactics of moving him constantly across the baseline in an effort to still the potency of his ground shots had taken its toll physically, and had he ever run more miles in a match. He was circumspect.

"I think we both did a lot of running. It was unfortunate, really, to not be able to come up with big shots at the right time. It forced me to go for winners or mistakes. Unfortunately I made a lot of mistakes at 2-4 in the fifth and lost the crucial break. After that, it was just a routine hold for him.

"It was a great two weeks for me overall. I played really good tennis when I needed to. Today it was just not meant to be. We played almost five hours, a lot of running, a lot of rallies. That says enough about the effort that we both put in – physical, mental effort. This time I didn't win. That's sport."